Cotswold Trichology

29/03/2025

I’ve been using CNSLab for years for food intolerance testing. While hair is my thing, not for food intolerance testing as it isn’t accurate.

09/01/2025

For those of you squeamish about venous blood tests or have problem squeezing enough blood out of a finger for a finger prick blood test, this smart little invention is here to make the whole process of blood testing simple and ver un-squeamish.

Autodraw is a little device you stick on the top of your arm and it drips blood slowly into a collection pot over 5 minutes, if you need a second pot, just unclip and clip a new one on.

I'm due a blood test myself so next week you can watch me use the new system and see if its as simple as they say it is😊

Learn how to collect a good blood sample using the autodraw device.

07/01/2025

Veganuary 🥕 is upon us where meat eaters give up a staple food group (protein) for the month. As a former Vegetarian for over 20 years, I have done enough veggie time to never have to do it again.

It was only due to my Trichology training I quit vegetarianism in my 30s and slowly increased the variety of animal protein I was willing to consume.

It wasn’t easy and when I became pregnant with my daughter I got steak cravings but cooked and ate it in secret as I’d made such a fuss about not eating cows 🐮

I still do not eat many 'little animals', where possible to buy organic, outdoor bread meat. Animal welfare is still something I care about whilst maintaining my own health and needs.

From a hair point of view, dietary protein is very important for keratin formation. Veggie's and Vegans are classically low in both iron and B12. You just simply cannot get enough in from plant-based diets and need to supplement.

It is possible to be a healthy vegan with careful planning and food combining. Eating should be treated and a meticulous science along with an all-encompassing supplement regime.

Alas, most Vegans will not do this but live on carbs instead, Veggie close companions similar but with everything drenched in Cheese …. Hello cholesterol 🧀

So, if you are vegan and visit for a hair loss appointment, don't take offence or feel I’m putting your lifestyle choice down. It may be to blame for the hair issues you face.

If you book a consultation, you are paying me to tell you what is wrong with your hair and what to do about it. You are not paying me to tell you what you want to hear.

There are ‘specialists’ who take money for treatments that won’t help. And more products designed for marketing and social media trends than it is possible to track.

If you need to make lifestyle choices, I will tell you. If you don't like it then don't change but I can’t wave a magic wand if you are not willing to help yourself 😁

12/12/2024

Apple Cider Vinegar. 🤦‍♀️

Every few years this one does the rounds, revived by a journalist in need of content.

Product development teams follow suit to develop cosmetics / products that follow ‘market trends,’ then influencers promote it to earn a living. Then you lovely people buy it.

I’m currently seeing an influx of people who have been Cider Vinegar rinsing their scalp to promote hair growth. What they actually end up with is a sore, red, irritated scalp due to their CV scalp rinse having a pH of 2-3.

Guess what a sore irritated scalp causes …… well, it could certainly contribute to hair loss!

Whilst the hair shaft maybe fine with a pH of 3.5, the scalp and skin prefers a pH of closer to 5.5. Hence the optimum pH range for shampoo, skin and hair products is often quoted at 4.5-5.5.

So ladies and gents, quit pouring acid on your head and go find yourself a reputable Trichologist instead 👩‍🔬😁

06/12/2024

Lovely card put through the clinic door today from a window display appreciator. I have no idea who! Window displays by fabulous Grace Wheeler

17/10/2024

Fun Fact learned in today’s Organic Formulators lessons.

Some plants are phototoxic and cause skin photosensitivity due to the naturally occurring Furanocoumarin compounds. One particularly known for this (but not by me!) is bergamot. Some company’s actually manufacture FCF (furanocoumarin free) bergamot to prevent its use in skin products causing photosensitivity reactions.

Now a couple of months ago I bought several honey-based shampoos to try. One of which I really liked but with each use my scalp became slightly more sensitive / sore until I could no longer use it. I assumed I was probably sensitive to one or more of the essential oils.

It appears that following up with my Theradome Laser Helmet on hair freshly washed in Bergamot and honey shampoo may have caused a bergamot induced photosensitivity reaction 🤦‍♀️

Other oils containing the same FC’s are largely citrus oils including cold pressed lime, grapefruit, bitter orange and cold pressed lemon, cumin, Rue, Angelica root.🍊🍋🍈

Every day’s a school day!

03/10/2024

Absolutely! Following on from a previous post, product manufacturers only care about persuading as many people to buy their product no matter if it’s right for them or not. These products do not fix iron deficiency, you’d need to take 3-4 times the stated dose for them to do anything at all.

28/09/2024

BANNED TOXIC INGREDIENTS IN PERSONAL CARE 🤬

For most of my life I have spent much of my free time studying something, not always hair or business related but often is.

I’m currently studying cosmetic science as I’ve always been interested in product ingredients.

Much claims and USP’s of product companies are based on marketing the product to turn over as many units as they possibly can.

‘Green’ companies have used ingredient scaremongering as a marketing tactic for years.

This works well on those consumers who believe the journalists who write about it and content creators on social media.

I have to force myself not to roll my eyes on a daily basis when presented with something a patient has purchased because marketing made them truly believe it was going to save them 🤦‍♀️

I probably still do roll my eyes but to be frank, I’m too old to care now 😂

Anyhow, this mornings cosmetic science lesson was to grab the nearest 5 products, use the COSMILE app to scan the ingredients list, follow the link to further reading then write the pros and cons of each.

So I grab my deodorant, have been using for 27 years, marketed as aluminium free because aluminium can apparently cause many health complaints and ‘may’ be linked to breast cancer.

So I found an ingredient I’d never heard of called Triclosan. COSMILE states it reduces or stops body odour. That’s interesting me thinks, I’ll read more about this one as it must be the active ingredient.

Turns out it is an oestrogen and potential thyroid disrupter amongst many other dangers. Listed as a pesticide, it was banned in US soap products by the FDA but still allowed in other personal care.

The EU banned it in ALL personal care in 2016 due to toxicity safety concerns!

So I shall be binning my apparently ‘natural’ deodorant in favour of one of those salt rocks and adding ‘truly toxic free deodorant’ to the list of products I’d like to formulate.

https://foreverliving.com/shop/gbr/en-gb/products/personal-care/067-ALOE-EVER-SHIELD-DEODORANT

https://www.bcpp.org/resource/triclosan/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6126357/ #:~:text=In%20September%202016%2C%20TCS%20was,hand%20sanitizer%2C%20and%20surgical%20soaps.

A potential endocrine disruptor that at lower levels increases the growth of breast cancer cells, and at higher levels, suppresses the growth of these cells. Read More

03/09/2024

Wow that’s an amazing claim considering the average Caucasian rate of growth is half an inch or less a month. A shampoo that can quadruple the rate of growth ….. they will surely be millionaires soon!

I wonder what the Advertising Standards Agency would make of that 🤷‍♀️

If you are concerned about your hair please seek help from a registered professional rather falling for marketing gimics.

30/08/2024

Recent research has found that resilient individuals have healthier gut microbiomes and more active brain regions for emotion regulation, highlighting a strong gut-brain connection that supports better stress management and overall mental well-being.

05/08/2024

We import something like 36,000 tones of cheap Chinese Honey every year. These bees are fed sugar to make the honey making process faster and there is no care in their husbandry. It is all used to bulk up your cheap supermarket honey and in products that say 'contains Honey' in them. Buy British direct from a Beekeeper or from common Beekeeper outlets such as farm shops and village shops.....
....Or buy mine, I sell it from my clinic and in Badsey Spar 🐝🐝🐝

As experts reveal that the majority of honey on UK shelves has been bulked up with cheap sugars, MailOnline reveals whether these viral 'honey tests' hold up to scientific scrutiny.